Frankly Speaking

Minor hockey players in Surrey often have to travel to other communities to practice and play hockey, because of a shortage of available ice in Surrey. Mayor Doug McCallum wants to delay building a new Cloverdale Arena, which would have two sheets of ice. The new Surrey council is looking at delaying a number of capital projects, out of concern for the level of debt. These include a new ice arena in Cloverdale, on the Cloverdale Fairgrounds. Clearing of the site has already taken place, but no construction has started. Also on the postponement list are a community centre and library for the Grandview Heights area and expansion of the Fleetwood Community Centre. Several other capital projects also face delay. Mayor Doug McCallum made a lot of noise about $514 in capital debt last week. Yet the debt level is not that high. At present, it sits at $378 million. The delayed projects would add another $136 million in debt. That’s where the $514 million figure comes in. Debt ...

A large birthday party was just one of many events underway at Hawthorne Park on Saturday. Frank Bucholtz photo For those people who oppo se Surrey council's decision to put a major road through Hawthorne Park, the forms which are part of the alternative approval process can now be obtained. These forms need to be filled out and signed by those who are eligible to vote in a Surrey municipal election. That means they must be Canadian citizens, 18 years or older and have lived in Surrey for (at minimum) the past 30 days. If more than 30,372 eligible voters fill out the forms and get them back to city hall by the deadline of Sept. 22, council will have a dilemma on its hands. It will have the choice of scrapping its plan for the road (which is part of its larger plan to build an LRT line along 104 Avenue) or putting its decision to rescind park protection bylaws relating to the park to a referendum. Neither choice is one that council members want to make. A communicati...